Reflections in an Icy Mirror
by Anaxn
Summary: A hunter nin is sent after the imposter traveling with Zabuza, only to find someone she knew before, in the days when she lived on the streets of Kirigakure.


Reflection in an Icy Mirror

Buji leapt through the trees as the late afternoon sun shattered the shadows of the forest, mind on full alert for threats. Fully aware of what potentially fatal situation she was headed towards, she scanned for the house she had been sent to find, the house said to contain Momochi Zabuza and his mysterious assistant. As a hunter nin, she was sent foremostly after the imposter, then to take out the missing nin if possible. Her own mask was covering her face, white on one half and black on the other with marks like a yin yang, a mask she had gotten as leader of an undertaker squad. Short brown hair whipped behind her, probably getting all knotted in the process too. Knitting her brow behind the mask, she stopped a second at an open clearing, hunched over the branch and avoiding the twigs. Below her, a ninja shot senbon at trees, already marked by pockmarks in the wood. But more importantly, the ninja was wearing a shinobi hunter mask.

Buji paused, hands clinging to the branch beneath her. The nin had her hair down and had basic hunter nin clothes down to the wooden sandals on her feet. _'So this formidable imposter nin, is a girl?'_ Buji knew she shouldn't be saying that, as she was a girl herself. However, she had been mistaken several times for a boy, with her short brown hair and the fact that she wrapped her chest to stay balanced. Fixing her cloth gloves ever so slightly, she reached gently into the pocket tied to her leg, pulling out a set of blades with no handle, her own specialty. Wrapping her fingers around it carefully so that they didn't slice through her gloves, she stood, letting a knife loose towards the nin. Quickly focusing her chakra into her hands, the shinobi hunter scaled the trunk of the tree, moving quickly out of the way of the senbon flying towards her previous position. Blades still held carefully in her hand, Buji clung to the wood for a second, contemplating the next attack. Suddenly the air dropped a degree and she felt eyes staring at her back.

'_She's behind me.'_ Smirking, the undertaker surprisingly released the wood, preparing to fall down about two stories. This bold suicidal move surprised the imposter as well and taking advantage of this, Buji flung the blades at the nin, laughing as she did. Leaping away, the shinobi dodged the projectiles, which instead lodged themselves in the branch above her. Frowning a bit, the hunter spun to face the ground. Steel wires flung from her gloves, lacing around a branch and bringing her safely to the ground. Quickly retracting the fifteen foot lifelines, she thanked again the ninja hunter that brought her in from the streets and gave her these.  
"Why are you attacking me?" Asked a childish voice from all around her. Knowing this trick, Buji listened carefully for the voice.  
"An imposter ought not to ask why the original fights." A kunai shot straight from above startled her and almost falling backwards, she barely managed to avoid it. Regaining her balance on all fours, she ignored the damaged bandages in front of her, instead standing and ripping open her weapons pouch. Snatching more blades, Buji blocked the first set of senbon to her neck, then was forced onto the defensive by needles flying from seemingly nowhere. She had to end this battle quickly; that was how she was trained and she wasn't good at fighting for long periods of time. _'She's fast, that's for sure.' _Buji thought, growling as she slapped another set of weapons away. _I guess I'll have to switch sights, then._ Stopping her movement, Buji closed her eyes as another silent needle targeted her neck. With a thud and a puff of smoke, the senbon pierced a broken branch as the nin frantically searched for the attacking shinobi hunter. A thin blade was shot at the imposter's back and although she blocked it, Buji's thin knife was at her throat in a single pulse.  
"Welcome to a hunter nin's jungle. Prepare to disappear." She pulled the dagger across, only to be met by the harsh scrape of metal on metal. The blade was caught between two senbon.  
"I'm sorry, but I am not ready to die yet. I have someone special to me to protect." The ex-nin's free hand quickly formed a set of hand seals, the air around her suddenly getting cooler and more humid. Buji watched in awe and apprehension as the water rose from the ground and condensed into sheets of ice. The frosty slates formed a dome and in front of her, the girl yelled,  
"Demonic Ice Mirrors!" Pushing the blade away from her neck, she dodged away from the undertaker and ran into the mirrors, blending perfectly with the ice. Turning, she was surprised to see her opponent with her eyes closed.  
"What manner of jutsu is this?" Buji asked, seeing the chakra through her kekkai genkai. It burned white blue in her vision, bright versus the trees around her.  
"This is my kekkai genkai."  
"Heh, same here. So tell me, were you ever actually a shinobi hunter?"  
"...Yes. Although Zabuza took me off the streets, I was trained as a Hunter nin."  
"Similar story. I was brought off the street by the head ninja undertaker and trained to be one. We're not so different, you and I. Both working shinobi girls." The girl in the mirror paused, seemingly confused although her mask revealed nothing.

"Heh, we both seemed to have missed something. First off, I thought you were a guy, but I can see now from your bandages that you aren't." Buji opened her eyes, deactivating her kekkai genkai, and looked down to see the tail end of her bandages resting just above her belt, inside her tucked-in hunter nin shirt.

"Second of all, I'm not a girl. I'm a guy." The ex-hunter took of the mask to reveal a feminine, but definitely male face. He had frozen brown eyes, but his hair made him definitely seem like a girl.  
"My name is Haku." Buji's eyes widened behind her black and white mask.  
"You're Haku? You're not lying to me, are you?" She asked with a certain amount of incredulity. The boy's face creased just slightly but even then seemed smooth.  
"Why would I lie about my identity?" With a sweep of her hand, Buji swiped the mask off her face and both stared in shock at each other for a few seconds.  
"Anki?!" Haku gasped and rushed from his mirrors to grab her by the shoulders and pull her towards him. She hugged him just as fiercely, attempting to crush his ribcage with her arms. Memories of them living on the streets together were the ones shared in the embrace.  
"I missed you."


End file.
